Golden West College Professor Put on Leave After Being Captured on Video Saying "Go Back to Your Home Country"

A professor at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California, is now on leave after being caught on video yelling "Go back to your home country" at an Asian-American family, CBS2 News reports.

Tony Kao was on a walk with his wife and infant in Long Beach when a person believed to be Tarin Olson — listed as "Professor, Career Counseling" on Golden West College's website — made the comment. "I want you to tell everybody why you told us to go back to our country," Kao says in a video he captured and posted on Facebook.

"You need to go back to your home country," the person believed to be Olson replies.

"We're born and raised in the United States, and you told me to go back to our country?" he says.

"First, I wanted to express our sadness of experiencing racism first-hand with our baby who was exposed to this at such a young age in public and broad daylight," Kao wrote in the video's caption. "Second, we wanted to express our surprise that this type of racism can exist in Long Beach of all places in this age and time and to bring awareness it can happen anywhere. And finally, to encourage those that also face similar experiences to speak up and speak out."

A few days after the video was post, Golden West College released a statement on Facebook reading, "It has recently come to our attention that there was a video posted on Facebook of a GWC faculty member making comments that the College does not condone or support. Golden West College believes in an inclusive and welcoming environment for all students." The college has released subsequent statements on Facebook addressing the issue.

Olson is now on leave from her career counseling job at the school, Coast Community College District spokesperson Letitia Clark told HuffPost. "Administrators are working diligently to find a resolution to this issue and communicate to the community that the sentiments of Tarin Olson do not represent the values of Golden West College," she said. Clark explained that Olson had been teaching a career planning class.

"The public comments made by the faculty member are extremely disappointing and do not reflect the values of the College," Clark told Teen Vogue. "Golden West College does not condone or support her comments, and we are reviewing all internal policies and viable options for next actionable steps. Golden West College values and supports the free and open exchange of thoughts and ideas in an environment that embraces mutual respect and civility, and deeply regret that the words expressed by this faculty member were painful and hurtful to our students and all of the supportive members of our community. The faculty member is currently on leave and is not on campus or interacting with students."

Teen Vogue reached out to Olson for comment, but has not yet received a response. She told CBS2 that she isn't racist and her students know this. "I feel my perspective will be twisted if discussing the skewed video which cut out part of the incident.[…] If you would like to have a full normal interview about the displacement of European-Americans then I gladly am available to enlighten the public," she said in a statement.

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia made a statement about the video to CBS2. "I mean, this country is a country of immigrants and of diversity, and this city is a very diverse, beautiful place I think people love and feel very comfortable in," he said. "So, I never want any families to feel like they’re not welcome here; we’re welcoming of everybody."